


The Black Paladin

by Canadiantardis



Series: The Paladins of Voltron [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: A few alien OCs here and there, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff, Galra Keith (Voltron), Gen, Haggarian!Pidge, M/M, Minor Violence, Past Brainwashing, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Slow Romance, Surprisingly kidfriendly despite the angst, With A Twist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-08
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2018-12-14 13:07:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11783790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Canadiantardis/pseuds/Canadiantardis
Summary: With Haggar defeated, Pidge is back in action, and not a moment too soon. Lotor has decided to bring the fight to the Paladins and Earth. Who will win this final battle?//Final sequel to Green, Blue, Yellow, and Red Paladin





	1. Aftermath of a Battle

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the end! Who would have thought we'd ever get here? Sure as hell not me.

The report came a day after the events had already concluded, by the lone survivor who had escaped.

The soldier bowed low in his kneel as he told Prince Lotor what happened.

“She’s what?” The Prince demanded after the explanation was finished.

“Dead, my lord. I had no idea she had died until I called for any other survivors, only finding myself alone in space. There are ships still around the system, most on the human’s planet, but they all returned with negative results on the witch Haggar.” The soldier explained. “And the other druids had expressed surprise that they could no longer feel her magic.”

Lotor growl, kicking the wall in frustration before composing himself. “It seems when not even your best can get something done, you must do it yourself.” He muttered.

“My lord, are you sure?” The soldier looked up.

“Yes. We will not let Voltron make a fool out of our great empire. I will show those pathetic creatures just how we have ruled this universe for so long.” Prince Lotor vowed, thumbing the new cursed scar across his cheek given to him by the Yellow Paladin. “I will destroy those humans…” Except his favourite human. _He_ would watch his friends and family burn and learn to _never_ disobey the Galra Prince again.

“Prepare for departure.” He called out, turning to head back to his room. “Set our destination for the Human planet. Earth.”

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

Shiro didn’t get to stay out of the pod to talk to Pidge when she got out of hers. After Allura had the younger girl sit down, she immediately put Shiro in his pod, ignoring all protests he made.

“We will all be able to talk once the fleet is destroyed, and by then, you will be completely healed up again. In the meantime, I’ll bring Pidge to get some much-needed food. Goodness knows how hungry she is, most likely more so than myself and Coran when we awoke.”

Shiro kept his eyes on Pidge as the blue shell _fwshhed_ close over him, closing his eyes soon after to leave that as the last memory to think about while he was healing.

He wasn’t sure how long it had been before he woke up again, but it felt as if he had a refreshing night’s sleep, something only the pod could give him at this point. Coran was waiting for him alone with a bright smile.

“How you feeling?” He asked, helping Shiro out of the pod and checking his wound to see it had healed nicely, although the scar wasn’t as smooth as it had been the last time. “Seems everything’s in order, but what say you?”

Shiro nodded with a smile. “I’m feeling great, Coran. Thanks. Are the others back?”

The Altean nodded. “They just came back a couple ticks ago. The command ship and the other ships surrounding it have been utterly destroyed. The other Paladins should be in the hangars by now.”

“What about Allura and Pidge?”

“Ah, those two are in the kitchen with Lance’s siblings.”

“Thanks, Coran.” He clapped the older alien on the shoulder as he stood up. “I’m going to the kitchen then. I’m starving.”

“Alright, I’ll be checking on the ship’s defenses before heading there myself. I think today’s victory calls for a celebration.” He chuckled, and the two headed out of the medical bay to walk in different directions.

Shiro got to the kitchen to see Pidge digging into the green goo and speaking with the food in her mouth, much to the mild disgust of the older women and the amusement of the younger children.

“Listen, I don’t even know the last time I ate, or did really _anything._ ” She retorted after swallowing, pointing her spork at Allura. “Leave me be, Princess.”

“Can’t really blame her there, Allura.” Shiro commented with a soft smile, walking into the kitchen to sit next to the Altean Princess. “If I had been stuck in that pod for so long, I’d eat like an animal. Pretty sure you did too when you came out of the pod.” He nudged her with a teasing expression.

Her cheeks stained darker in a blush, but shook her head. “Fine, fine, but be careful, Pidge.”

“At least try not to choke.” Miranda warned. “If anything, you should be eating a little at a time. Who knows if your stomach had shrunk due to malnourishment at any point.”

“Oh, that’s not a concern, missy.” Pidge replied without looking at the woman. “The pods gave me fluids, so if I _had_ been malnourished during my capture, the fluids, like IV, would have brought me back to the bare minimum of nourished. I’ve gone over everything about those pods, by myself and with Coran helping me with translations.”

“You cannot translate the alien language?” Miranda asked, surprised.

Pidge nodded, eyes bright and eager that she set down her spork to explain. “Yeah, weird right? A ship that can translate any language but can’t translate the original language into English or something.” She laughed lightly. “Coran doesn’t know why it’s like that, but hey, an excuse to learn a _completely new alien language?_ I’m not gunna argue too much.”

Miranda laughed along with the young teen. “I guess that’s one way to see things.”

“Pidge has always had a unique way of seeing things.” Allura commented. “It’s what makes her a great Paladin for the Green Lion. And it must be a trait among family, as Matt seems to get along well with Green Lion as well.”

At her brother’s name, Pidge choked on her food, spitting the goo out so she didn’t really choke, coughing hard. _“Matt?”_ She coughed, bewildered.

“Oh. Hold that thought, Pidge.” Allura had a wide grin, looking past Shiro to the door of the kitchen. “Hey, you four almost here? _Someone_ just woke up and I think she’d love to see you all again.”

Pidge finished her coughing fit, looking hard at Allura before trying the same on the other adults in the room. But as Shiro caught on to what Allura was doing, and seeing Miranda understand too, the three kept quiet.

The younger Holt sibling grew more bewildered until the four entered through the door, Lance and Keith on either side of Matt with Hunk behind them, all of them laughing something Lance had done or said, before they all stopped dead in their tracks once they realized Pidge was staring at them with saucer-sized eyes.

_“Katie.”_ Was the only word out of Matt’s mouth before Pidge literally launched out of her seat, ran on the table and jumped on her brother like a cat on a toy, a wordless cry of pure emotion. The two fell to the floor, the three teens giving the siblings room

“I thought I’d never see you.” Pidge sobbed, her words muffled against Matt’s Paladin armour.

“Same, kiddo. I thought you’d never wake up.” Matt laughed, but everyone could see the tears spill happily down the older Holt’s face.

“You’re here! You’re, you’re really here, oh my gosh.” Pidge seemed to be putting the pieces together, looking up at the others who were witnessing the reunion with bright grins. “Matt’s here! How, h-h-how is he here?”

“It’s a bit of a long story.” Shiro said.

“But long story short is that we found him in a rebel base that we saved, uh, while you had been captured the first time.” Lance tried to explain, subconsciously putting a hand to where she had stabbed him just over a week after finding Matt.

“I… wow.” Pidge stumbled over her words, as if figuring out what to say but everything was getting mixed up in her head. “You’re here! I just, I didn’t, I had a whole thing about how I wanted to, but now, just, you’re here, you’re real, I’m hugging you.”

“Katie, Katie, it’s okay.” Matt chuckled again, his arms tight around his sister. “I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere.”

“But, bu-but…” Her eyes went big again. “What about Dad? Did you guys try to save him too?”

Matt and the rest frowned, the three boys turning away awkwardly.

“Matt?” She pressed, but the only answer she got was his brother sitting up and holding her arms tightly.

“I think… Hey, Katie, we have a lot to talk about. Why don’t we see our Lion?”

Her face fell. “Matt?” She asked again, softer. “What about Dad?”

Matt stood up and helped Pidge up as well, taking her out of the kitchen. “This should only be between family. C’mon.”

Shiro and the rest were silent as they listened to the soft padding of the Holts walking down towards the Green Lion’s hangar. At least they were until Nino and Pyrha spoke up.

“Leo?” Nino started.

“Coran said we were celebrating something. Is it a birthday?” Pyrha finished.

They managed to break the ice smoothly, as Lance’s quiet surprise over what they all witnessed melted to a grin of ego. “No, not a birthday. More like, we got Pidge back to herself, she’s back with her brother, and we kicked the bad guys’ butts. Good guys won a big battle!”

His younger siblings let out exclamations of happiness, although Shiro guessed they didn’t really understand everything that their brother had told them.

“Yeah, but we aren’t celebrating just yet, guys. Let the others get out of their armour and then we’ll meet up in the living room.” Miranda said, standing up, the Princess’s borrowed dress she wore instead of the revealing clothes ending past her knees gently falling back to place as she stood. “C’mon, we’ll wait for them there.”

“Okay!” The two cried, pushing past their brother and the other two before running down to the main living area. Miranda followed, not before she hugged Lance tightly.

“Good job, kiddo. I’m glad you’re all okay.” She said, catching every Paladin’s eyes for a moment each, then walking out to follow the younger two. “See you there.”

“Course, Miri. Thanks.” Lance replied with a smile, and was about to head to his room when Keith grabbed his arm.

“Uhm, can you and Hunk follow me real quick?” He asked, not looking at the two.

Hunk and Lance looked at each other, then at Allura and Shiro, before agreeing and heading out as well.

The kitchen grew quiet as the last two looked between themselves before Allura chuckled, sounding confused. “That was a thing, wasn’t it?”

Shiro had to laugh at that, and he nodded. “Oh for sure. But everything’s fine now. We got rid of Haggar, we destroyed most of the Galra that tried to take over our Solar system, and we almost have Earth saved. I’m just happy all this stuff is happening after all the fighting.”

Chapter done!


	2. Private discussions

Lance and Hunk followed Keith to a quiet, undisturbed part of the Castle, the Red Paladin looking restless as he checked no one was near them for the fourth time.

“What’s this about, Keith?” Hunk asked.

“Yeah, what’s up, man?” Lance crossed his arms but looked concerned.

Keith looked around the space one last time before he looked at the two teens, and Lance thought he looked conflicted or guilty.

“I just, I wanted to apologize for how I acted before.” He let the words rush, his eyes closed as if to hide from the other two. “It’s just, I’ve never… I’ve never liked anyone like this before, and then Lance appears with his annoying ‘rival’ nonsense.”

Lance opened his mouth to argue but Hunk waved it away, giving him a pointed look, but Keith barreled on, not noticing any of it.

“And you kissed me and I thought I understood my feelings, finally, but then you kissed Hunk and I was so confused because I thought you liked me back. And your explanation didn’t help at all.”

It took him a few moments to really understand what Keith was talking about, and when he did, he couldn’t help but laugh lightly, shaking his head in amusement. That made both Hunk and Keith look at him, one with a confused look, the other with an expression closer to hurt.

Lance backpedalled, raising his hands and waving them. “Wait, that’s not what, hang on.” He straightened up, and looked between the other two. “I guess it makes sense you guys didn’t really understand what I said yesterday. Sorry, I forget not everyone knows about it.”

“About what?” Keith asked, crossing his arms tightly over his chest.

“Polyamory. It’s, uh, how do I explain it?” Lance mulled over his words before speaking again. “Okay, it’s like, I like multiple people at the same time, and wouldn’t mind being in a relationship with them at the same time. Before you ask,” Lance shook a finger before either teen could ask the dreaded question, “it is _nothing_ like cheating. The other partners know and accept the relationships. Sometimes multiple partners are in like a multi-relationship amongst each other. Like, uh…” He scratched the back of his head, blushing.

“Like what?” He jumped at Keith’s question.

“For example, I like both you and Hunk. I want to be in a relationship with both of you. And it can be like I am dating both of you, but you are only dating me, or we can be dating each other.” _Quiznak, was it this hard for Eddie to explain this to his previous partners?_ He wondered, blushing darkly.

The other two were silent for a long time, obviously processing the information Lance had given them, but still, the silence was growing unbearable for the Blue Paladin. He felt the longer they didn’t speak, the more likely they’d hate him or lose interest in him because he was polyamorous.

Finally, Hunk broke the silence. “Oh.” He simply said, but it was enough to break the oppressive silence between the three of them.

“Is that a good oh or a bad oh?” Lance asked nervously, knowing he was leaving himself vulnerable to them but he couldn’t put on his normal act after admitting all that.

“It’s a ‘that’s a lot to process’ oh, really.” Hunk chuckled lightly, which was a good start and Lance relaxed visibly.

“That’s a thing? Liking more than one person at the same time?” Keith asked.

Lance nodded in answer. “Yeah, it’s, uh, really relieving to know, if I’m honest. I’m lucky my older brother is also polyamorous. He told the entire family the day before he brought over his two now-exes to meet the parents a while back.”

Keith went silent again, a concentrated expression on his face.

“I never knew that.” Hunk said, shifting his feet for a moment. “But I guess it makes sense. I thought you kept flirting because you were just a flirt, like going from one interest to another.”

“Nope, I’m just a lover, man.” Lance smiled widely before he went serious again. “But, I’m still hoping for an answer on that relationship thing.”

Silence again, before Hunk - bless him - broke the silence. “I, I know I like you too, Lance. And I know Keith likes you, and I don’t know how I feel about Keith myself, but we could… We could try?”

Lance visibly perked up, a huge, wide grin splitting his face. “Really? You mean it?” He couldn’t help the eagerness in his tone to show, turning to Keith, hopeful. “What about you, Keith?”

Keith didn’t speak but let the smallest smile appear on his face and he nodded once.

Lance felt all the weight of fear slide off him and he honestly felt like he could fly at that moment. He launched himself at the other two, kissing their cheeks happily for several ticks before Hunk pulled him away.

“We can do this later. There’s a party to get to, change up and we can have some fun with the others.” He said with a flustered expression.

“Oh. Yeah! Celebration time!” Lance exclaimed. “See you there!”

With that, the three headed to their respective rooms.

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

Across the ship, the Holt siblings were sitting across from each other in Jade’s hangar. Just being back in her presence relaxed Pidge, but still the fear of what her brother had to tell her worried her.

Then Matt told her everything, from the moment he got separated from Shiro, to knowing their father’s health was bad and he likely wouldn’t survive the alien labour camp, to being rescued by rebels.

Pidge felt the hug before she realized she was crying again. Their dad had been separated from his entire family when he was on his deathbed.

“It’s okay, Katie.” Matt whispered into her hair. “He’s better now. I know he’d rather be anywhere than in that labour camp.”

“But, I was going to save both of you. We were going to go back to Mom, and go back to way things were. We’d all cry but have each other.” At the mention of their mom, Pidge froze. “Mom’s alone! She must, they must all think we’re dead!”

“Shh, it’s okay. We’ll make it home to Mom. I mean, we are back in our Solar system.” Pidge jumped, staring at her brother with wide eyes.

“Really?” When Matt nodded, she looked confused. “Why though?”

“Okay, before I tell you that, let’s get caught up completely.” Matt laughed lightly, continuing his story and how things came to be.

Chapter done!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple of you were close to who would know polyamory first. Eddie is Lance's oldest sibling, and while I hc him being married to one woman, in the past he was in poly-relationships.  
> As for the Holts, Pidge has a lot to catch up with.


	3. Celebration of victory

Soft music played happily in the common area, the instruments sounding like nothing Shiro had ever heard before. He had tried to ask both Alteans what they were called, but Coran’s explanations gave him a headache with the metaphors, and Allura just wasn’t a music person to really know how to describe them, though he couldn’t fault her for trying for him.

Lance’s younger siblings danced without a care in the world to the music, twirling each other around and around before breaking away and stumbling on their feet until they both fell down, bodies still swaying in circles.

Miranda laughed at their antics before turning to the Princess and Shiro. “I never had the time to properly thank you for the clothes, though I’ve never owned a dress this fancy.” She looked down at herself to the pale blue dress that looked softer than cotton and finer than silk. “I’m just glad to be out of that _outfit_.”

Shiro put a comforting hand on her shoulder as she seemed to retreat inwardly, hands wrapping around her own waist as if remembering how exposed she had been with the clothes Prince Lotor forced her to wear. “We’re glad you’re happy. Lance had been really worried when he saw the three of you.”

Miranda laughed with little humour. “He’s really grown up a lot. Mama and Papa are going to cry when they see him alive.” Her eyes went to the Black Paladin and studied him. “I think every family will have an experience seeing the supposed dead turn out to be alive. Particularly your family.”

The thought made him freeze, realization transforming his face. He forgot his family must have thought he’s been dead for years now due to his own error. His heart squeezed painfully thinking how they must have reacted to all that, particularly Yui. His sister and him had been pretty close, and she would always be the one to relay his letters and messages to their parents when he went on missions. It had been so long.

“I’m sure they’ll be overjoyed to know you’re alive and well, Shiro.” Allura comforted, lightly running a hand down his organic arm, smiling at him softly.

“Yeah.” He nodded in reply, not able to explain his thoughts and feelings about the realization but hoped both women were correct.

Just then, the primary Paladins entered the room, talking about something that had Hunk and Lance smiling like loons.

Lance saw his siblings on the floor and ran to them with a bright smile, crouching in front of them. “Hey, what’s up? The party’s barely started and you’re all worn out?”

“I’m not worn out!” The two cried indignantly, giggling as they stood back up, Nino with his hands on his hips in an adorable power stance.

“Prove it, shortstacks.” Lance challenged cheerfully, and soon there was a ridiculous dance-off starting between Lance and his younger siblings.

The entire group was enjoying the competition that no one noticed when the Holts joined the semicircle watching the three until Pidge called out to the younger siblings they were doing it all wrong. She elbowed her way between Hunk and Keith and started whispering conspiratorially to Nino and Pyrha. Everyone watched as mischievous grins appeared on both children’s faces.

“Hey, what is she telling you guys?” Lance asked nervously but went unanswered until Pidge left the space with an innocent smirk.

“Leo, Leo! It’s your turn to start!” Pyrha cried, distracting her brother from Pidge as she returned to her brother’s side with a pleased expression. Shiro saw Matt whisper something to her, and the reaction from her caused him to smother laughter.

Lance went back to dancing his goofy dance when both children dashed for him, tackling him to the ground, and he yelped in surprise, falling onto his back with the two on top of him, giggling maniacally.

“We win, we win!” Nino crowed, sitting up on Lance’s chest.

The Blue Paladin grunted but stayed down, acting defeated. “Oh no, I have lost, how could this possibly happen?” He bemoaned dramatically. “I thought I would surely win this time!”

“Good job, kiddos.” Miranda laughed, heading to her family and ruffling the children’s heads, accidently making Pyrha’s wild hair even more tangled.

Coran’s voice interrupted the music with a call to eat. Pidge and the younger two bolted at the mention of food as Miranda helped Lance off the floor. Shiro walked with Matt and Allura, his organic fingers brushing against the Princess’s as they went to the dining area.

“How did Pidge take everything?” Allura asked.

“Reasonably hard.” Matt frowned sadly. “I think she’s still processing everything, not just Dad’s death. She says she doesn’t remember most of her time captured, but her last real memories were when she stabbed Lance and talked to you, Princess. After that, she remembers waking up in the pod.”

Shiro slowed his walk. “They’ve taken months of her memories.”

“It shouldn’t matter anymore. Pidge is back and we never have to fear Haggar again.” Allura’s voice was hard, commanding Shiro and Matt to listen to her and believe it. “And if I’m honest, seeing what they had done to her, I’m happy she cannot remember everything. To do all that horrible stuff to a child is unforgivable.” Her face went scary dark for a flash before it softened again and she started walking again at normal speed, making the two men hurry to catch up with her.

The feast Coran had made was a small one, but still there was so much food for the group and everyone ate until they couldn’t anymore. The mood was light and festive with Coran telling his stories and Lance’s siblings providing happy chatter. It set Shiro at ease, sitting on Allura’s right side that let their knees press together for comfort, while Matt sat on his other side and they all were able to talk about happier times, as well as constantly give thanks to Keith for today’s win. The first couple times he went visibly red from the compliments Hunk and Lance gave over the victory and if Shiro cared to notice, he would have seen both teens lingering touches on Keith’s shoulder at random intervals throughout the feast.

As the night neared closer, Miranda excused herself to put the children to bed, watching their sleepy eyes droop closed. When only the Paladins, Matt, and the Alteans remained, things became more somber.

“There are still Galra down on Earth. I’ve done some checks, and most seem to be on this landmass.” Coran pulled up a holographic of the Earth, with a circle around North America. Shiro let out a breath of relief inwardly, knowing his family was safe for the moment back in Japan, when they moved after Shiro finished school at the Garrison. “We just have to drive them out and everything will be okay for the time being.”

“We just need to stop the Galra reign and it should splinter the empire.” Matt said. “You guys almost got that when you defeated Zarkon, until Lotor showed up.”

“If we stop Lotor, we’ll have defeated all the leaders at the top. Like cutting the head of a chicken.” Pidge piped in, leaning forward with her hands cupping her chin. “But we’re far from the main base, I’d assume, so getting to him would be hard, wouldn’t it?”

“Yes, so we’ll have to focus the way we have in the past. Protect and save the planets that the Galra have taken or are still trying to take, and rally up the forces to defeat the Galra in one fell swoop.” Allura reasoned, standing up gracefully. “So, we will run the Galra out of this system, bring your family back together, Lance, before we must continue our campaign of peace and protection across the universe.”

Chapter done!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about last week ^^;;  
> Here it is! Lots of fluff before the end


	4. Storytime

Pidge didn’t want to sleep that night cycle, even as her eyelids drooped lower with every minute. She thought, at first, she didn’t want to sleep was simply because she had been in a coma for a long while and thought her body would be able to handle staying awake longer than her average, but it seemed to have the opposite effect.

She was currently working on the communications again, yawning quietly, before she let out a shout of alarm when a hand stilled her work.

The hand belonged to Matt, who stood beside her suddenly – seriously, when did he get into her room in the first place? She hadn’t heard a thing! – with a worried smile on his expression. He took her hands away from the bits of wires, moving her to face her bed a couple feet away without saying a single word.

“No, I’m, I’m fine.” She yawned again, rubbing her tired eyes. “I don’t need sleep. Why are you here?”

“I knew you weren’t going to try to sleep. Call it brother’s intuition.” The smile grew a bit more genuine and soft. “I could tell you bedtime stories that Mom and Dad used to tell us, if that’ll help.”

Pidge felt indignant that Matt was trying to treat her like a baby, but the thought of her parents’ stories made her hesitant in saying no. The stories their parents told them were always so funny and sleep-inducing, because of the way they spoke.

She crossed her arms as she stood up and sat down on her bed. “Maybe one or two. Do you remember the princess story?”

“The smart princess who saved her kingdom from a rival king?” Matt guessed, grinning as he sat on the edge of her bed as she settled into it, nodding in answer. “Alright. That’s an old one, I don’t think I remember the beginning too well, so sorry if I mess it up.”

“We can-” Pidge yawned, “-we can always ask Mom when we get back home. It was her favourite story to tell.”

Matt chuckled as his voice went soft, the same way their parents did when they told their stories. Pidge tried to keep her eyes open but the soft timber of his voice, mixed with the familiar story were too much. He had barely gotten to the problem of the story – the neighbouring kingdom thought a ruling queen would be easy to conquer and planned to invade just a few months into her rule – when she fell into a deep sleep that was, thankfully, dreamless. Unconsciously, she knew if she had dreamt, they would have quickly turned to nightmares.

The next morning, she was alone, but felt a lot more refreshed and relaxed thanks to the story the previous night.

Stretching her arms over her head as she sat up, Pidge yawned to wake up her brain, shaking her head quickly. She reached to grab her glasses off the makeshift bedside table but found nothing, taking several long ticks for her tired brain to kick into high gear and realize they were back where they belonged – on Matt’s blind face – and let out the breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding. She had completely forgotten she hadn’t been wearing them since her original capture that happened, according to what Matt told her the previous day, several months ago.

She slowed her movements out of bed at the thought. She really didn’t remember much of her time captured. She knew there had been pain and she remembered Haggar’s cloak a lot. Her memory was spotty around the time she was with the others, but she clearly remembered the dagger in her hand, Lance falling to his knees, Keith pinning her to the ground, Matt’s voice calling her name…

Pidge shook her head. “Nope, ugh, can’t.” She rubbed her eyes, inwardly pretending it wasn’t to wipe tears but to wipe the last bits of sleep off her.

She got out of bed quickly, looking at her clothes. There wasn’t much she could do to fix the wrinkles as she didn’t want to wear her armour. It did help to remind her she still needed to ask Allura or Coran where the supposed closet was in each room that held additional clothes. Despite her best attempts, the secret closet remained hidden despite the bareness the room once held – before her tech caused a metaphorical tornado in her room.

Leaving her room, Pidge headed to the dining room, wondering idly what time it was. She could only guess it was late morning from the ship’s lights but it was hard to tell.

Hunk was still in the dining area when Pidge entered, fidgeting with a full bowl of goo between his hands. His head snapped up at her footsteps and he smiled widely.

“Morning, Pidge. Got breakfast for you.” He pushed the bowl to the closest empty seat.

“Where are the others?” Pidge asked as she sat down, crossing her legs on top of the seat and grabbed the bowl and the nearby spork. “And what’s the plan today? Are you busting Earth free today?”

Hunk hummed, a scoff of a laugh escaping his lips. “Ah, not yet. The others are currently stopping Lance and Keith from taking their Lions and fighting right now. Everyone else agrees if we want to fight these Galra, we should make sure everyone who is going to fight is ready to fight.” He gave a significant glance at her. “So we’re testing how your muscles are after the cryo-coma. Sound good to you?”

The spork started tapping against the rim of the bowl as she frowned, thinking logically. She had no idea if she was weaker than before or not, but she reasoned they had no idea how bad Earth was faring against the Galra. They shouldn’t wait for her to be in top condition before fighting. “How long should all that take? About a couple hours max, right?”

Hunk nodded after a brief moment to think it over. “Should be, yeah. Gunna test muscles, reflexes, strength and sparring abilities.”

Pidge’s lips twisted downwards but she nodded, taking a sporkful of goo and eating it. “Alright, fine. After I eat, we’ll go.”

Chapter done!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter this week. hehe


	5. Author's Note + Haitus

Hey guys

Sorry about another not-chapter. School is again killing me, along with other fandom events. So until I'm mostly done with at least 2 of the 4 fandom events I'm a part of, I'm putting Black Paladin on the backburner. I really want to finish this fic, and I will, but the 2 fandom events are finishing soon (you'll be able to see them on my AO3 when posting starts). After that, I should be able to focus a bit more for this fic!

Sorry again, and I'll see yall later~


	6. Author's note + THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the long wait, only to be met with more bad news.
> 
> I've decided to not finish this fic. I lost the love for this plot I had made with the rise of some of the nasty side of the fandom, which sadly left a sour, unpleasant taste in my mouth for part of the main relationship of Klunk. I still like the ship, but I can't make myself like it enough to write the rest of this story.
> 
> However, I will be showing how this series was meant to end. I always had the very ending in my head, and originally, when my interest started to decline, my mind was on if I can finish this fic and get to the epilogue, everything will be fine. Sadly, that never happened.

Anyway. On to my notes on the rest of the story.

The Paladins have 4 days before Lotor reaches Earth, and the Paladins work on getting Pidge back into top shape, making sure her reflexes haven't been dulled and making sure she could handle fighting again.

During that time, Lance, Hunk, and Keith would be figuring their relationship, mostly with Hunk and Keith asking Lance about Polyamory stuff since he knew the most out of them. Shiro, Matt, and Allura would actually have something like this happening between them(mostly cuz I'm Shalluratt trash aha)

After four days of practicing and all that, they learn Lotor has arrived in the Milky way to conquer Earth, and the Paladins have a big ol' fight with the Galra Prince. I'm still not sure, but when Lotor is defeated, he might also be killed or not. I think he would have been killed, by Keith personally to protect Lance and/or Hunk who was in danger of getting caught by Lotor.

Then the Earth would be saved. The Galra would be pushed out of the planet. All that happy stuff and jazz. Hunk, Lance & Fam, Pidge and Matt get to share really heartfelt moments with their whole families. Lots of tears and lots of grateful emotions.

Finally the Epilogue.

Let's start with the youngest and work our way up. This is 10 years in the future.

Pidge: She falls in love with an alien girl who is very tech savvy. She is pretty girly and basically would be the femme to Pidge's butch lmao. Her girlfriend's name is Bendara Veros. They are still in the beginning of their relationship, but things are going well for them.

Klunk: They are a good polycule. Very open about communication, even if Keith makes it a bit hard with his unsocial nature. They adopt some children, the eldest would be a young Galra girl who was orphaned. She's about 16 when the Epilogue begins, and they found her when she was 12. Her name is Vralnea. Then they would have another alien child who had been orphaned by the war still affecting the world even if the Galra are no longer following anyone, and he is 7 years old, having been 6 when they adopted him. His name is Jet.

Finally, Shalluratt: Matt finally gets into the relationship, and things are going rather well for them. They have three kids, and two are blood-related to Shiro, with the last one being blood-related to Matt. Not that it matters, they are both the 3's dads. The two that are Shiro's and Allura's are twins, about 8. They have Shiro's eyes, less pointy ears, a couple shades lighter than Allura, and Altean markings. The eldest twin is a girl named Anninu and she has white hair like Allura's, while the younger twin is a boy named Akira who has dark hair like Shiro's. The youngest child is a girl who has light brown hair, fair skin with dark Altean markings and eyes like Allura. Her name is Regina, and she is 3. I'm pretty sure they would want to try to have another child, but at the moment, all three parents are happy with the amount they have currently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And. That is how the Paladin series would really end. A happy ending to the stuff I did to them. Again, I'm sorry for having to do it like this. But I did not want to force myself to write something I was not going to enjoy.
> 
> Still, thank you to all who had read and commented and liked it. Yall were the good ones. Love yall.


End file.
